Exclusive Interview With The 2018 Galaxy A7 + A9 Designer!

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The 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9 smartphones are a very big deal for Samsung. They are not flagship models like the Galaxy Note9 or Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, but they are big moneymakers for Samsung. Hence, it was no surprise to see Samsung bring out the big stars for the recent Galaxy UNPACKED KL 2018 launch event.

Samsung even brought in the lead designer for the 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9 smartphones for a special interview session on the new design language. Check it out!

Exclusive Interview With The 2018 Galaxy A7 + A9 Designer

We were one of the few to be invited to an exclusive interview session with the 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9’s lead designer. Sang Il Park. Here is a video of the question and answers session after his presentation :

And here are the key points from his presentation on the 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9’s design language and process :

The team worked with six global design offices that conduct research into the social, cultural and design trends of the world.

The key target audience of the 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9 designs are the Millennials.

They researched the lifestyle of Millennials in Southeast Asia, and how they thought.

Specifically, they identified that Millennials don’t like to follow pre-existing paths, but act on their personal beliefs and standards. They want to seek new meanings and express their own stories in different ways, and share them with others. They also want to try new things that are outside of the norm.

Three key design aspects of the 2018 Galaxy A9 were inspired by the Millennial’s lifestyle.

The quad camera is “naturally” integrated into the design, rather than being “artificially exposed”.

The “beaming glass in diverse colours” under the light

Youthful energy is expressed through the colour gradients of the metal and glass chassis.

Even though the 2018 Galaxy A9 features a new quad camera, the design team intentionally minimised its appearance visually and ergonomically by making it black, and minimising its protrusion.

To emphasise the silhouette, the beauty of the “beaming glass in diverse colours”, they added gradated laminate film to the back glass, which is reflected by the light.

Making the glass curved was a big challenge, but they used it to maximise the reflective qualities of the back glass panel.

Samsung also used a new anodising method to create a gradated metal finish, making it possible to have a lighter-tone at the top that gradually becomes dark towards the bottom.

They created the three colour gradients based on the “youthful energy of the Millennials” – Caviar Black, Lemonade Blue and Bubblegum Pink.

Caviar Black is for those who like to be “neat” and “sophisticated“.

Lemonade Blue is meant to induce “vividness” and an “energetic” feeling.

Bubblegum Pink reflects “happy” moments.

Who Is The 2018 Galaxy A7 + A9 Designer?

The 2018 Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A9 designer is Sang Il Park, the Principal Product Designer of Design Team (III) at Samsung Electronics.

Park began his design career in 2001 in Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Division, working on monitors and television products. In 2009, he joined the Advance Design Team at Samsung Design Center, where he managed future product design tasks and design-related services, arriving at his current position in 2014.

Park has received numerous design awards from distinguished organizations throughout his career, including the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and International Forum Design (IF). In 2007, he received a GOLD award from IDEA for his work and was a finalist again in 2011. Park also received a Gold award from IF in 2011 as well.